Me in the Corner
by OutrageousIngeniousBrilliance
Summary: The Cold War through Lithuania's eyes and they're focus on one person: Prussia.  LietPrussia Onesided RussLiet and others.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimers: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter One

There is a hell on Earth.

I'm not talking about the city somewhere in America either. The hell I'm talking about is the one with its own personal devil and prisoners. This one is filled with terror recognized by everyone in hell with the devil, except for the devil, and everyone outside, in the nice place of heaven, is completely oblivious to those below them.

Except this hell has a way out. Those few years in heaven were some of the best times of my life. This hell also has a way of pulling you back in as well. That's where I am now.

The hell I am talking about is Russia.

Not the country, the person who personifies the country, although he can usually found in Russia. More specifically at his house in the capital called Moscow. I never thought I would have to see that city again, but I did only after a few years. Those years with America were heaven compared to Russia.

My first thoughts of the city the first time I came was that it was cold. That was my consensus every time since. Russia's house in particular is never warm, only as cold as a freezer box.

During those years of the second war to end all wars, I found hardship in my nation. Support for both sides of the war came into creation in my borders.

One side of my people would make some parts of me flare up and my body would feel like it was on fire for a few seconds. It left me breathless. One day, I had multiple attacks of the same kind hinder me unconscious due to the pain. Thankfully, I was brought quickly to the hospital, or at least a war hospital.

The pain would shoot through my body and once at the hospital, it seemed to worsen. Near the end of the war I was informed by my generals of what was going on in my country. I understood my people's pain, but I also understood my people working on the side of the pain bringers. They wanted Lithuania to be a free country after the war; it wasn't like my wishes were too far from that.

The war ended, making Russia very happy. He laughed at the other countries demises and as a souvenir, had countries _volunteer _to become one with him. It was as if they _wanted _to be in Russia's house.

At least Belarus was happy. If she is happy and near Russia, Russia spends less time with me or Latvia or Estonia or anyone else in the house. The only drawback is that she gets the wrong idea from Russia's intentions and will randomly dress us up as a wedding party and make us convince Russia that marrying her is the best course of action. She is truly crazy at those times.

Ukraine could have been happier not living with her brother and sister, but has been use to it. She was blessed with her normalcy and not cursed with the dementedness of her siblings. She is pretty fragile compared to her siblings. We've always gotten along, but she is usually in another part of the house treated better than the rest of us.

Latvia is like my adopted brother. He can shake like nothing else and is so young to be in Russia's house…then again I was fifteen when I first came to Russia's. Once I asked what he remembered before Russia, he said there wasn't anything he could think of, it's been too long.

Estonia is also like my adopted younger brother. I try to notice him through his quietness, but that can fail occasionally. Latvia is his main reason maybe even for living, but sometimes his cries will be too much for one person to calm down and then that is when I come in and comfort him.

Hungary is new to our household and is still trying to defy Russia in some small ways. I told her not to, trying to help her like she helped me when I was small, but that isn't who she is. She's strong, but Russia _will _break her. No one escapes his wrath.

Poland…

Right now I hate him, yet don't. There has been…tension between us. We aren't agreeing with each other and now we are at the same house. Thankfully the house is huge (enough to easily sleep a few full populations of Liechtenstein). I can't make up with him, though, even if I wanted to. Russia has separated us due to our 'shared pasts'.

Lastly, in our 'family' in hell, is Prussia. I only just heard that he was on the way to the house. Prussia and I are not on good terms, not that I have ever been on good terms with him. Since I was a child, we haven't gotten along. He wasn't pleasant to me then and from what I have seen, hasn't changed. I can't say this about almost any other countries, but we just don't get along.

I was cleaning Russia's house, supposedly waiting for Prussia to arrive, when Russia stepped into the room I was in. I have long learned to not be visibly afraid of Russia in his presence, at least most of the time. He calls the shaking my brothers and I exhibit weakness. I do not wish to be called weak anymore.

"Prepare the guest house, okay, lyubov?" Russia steps closer to me.

"Is there s-s-someone coming?" I ask, cursing under my breath about my stutter. The word 'important' is not said, but is implied. Prussia would not be counted important, just another spoil of war.

"When the car arrives, send it to the guest house. Make him comfortable." Russia smiles and leaves, but I know that when he grabs a 'bottle' of the good vodka something is not right.

I start cleaning the guest house. It's less of a house than a haunted house with a bedroom, a living room, and a bathroom with no amenities. It's really scary and I'm guessing that is why Russia's boss likes staying here.

After I am done cleaning, I hear a car pull into the driveway. I go through the main house to meet it. On the way, Hungary stands in the doorway so that she can grab my attention.

"Elizaveta?" She steps aside to let me in. Her eyes have been duller since she heard of Prussia coming here.

"Is that him?" She asks.

"I'm not sure." I don't think so. I walk past her and she stays near the door. I stop, turn around, and smile.

"If you tell the car in the front to go to the guest house, you can find out." Hungary looked at me, then turned and went quickly to the front door.

I went back to the guest house to meet the car. It was black and had tinted windows so I couldn't see who was in it. I waited for the back door to open.

The door opened and white hair with red eyes stepped out.

"Toris, last…well actually first person I expected to see." Cocky, that won't last long.

"Russia, would like to see you in the guest house." I say as he walks past, smiling no less. I open the door and let Prussia into the guest house's living room. Russia stood, smiling as well, near the couch. Prussia didn't look intimidated, which irked Russia. I only know this because he is restlessly moving his fingers around each other.

"Russia, Russia! How are ya? I haven't seen you since the meeting. You too high up to come get me yourself?" Prussia laughs. It's the same degrading laugh from when I was a child. It is unnerving to me and Russia, whose eyes are anything but happy.

"Prussia," Russia began, "sit down." Russia gestures towards a chair in the middle of the living room.

"You've got a very awesome house here. I'm liking it here." Prussia sat down. He then turned his gaze to me. "Fading into the background, one of your specialties, isn't it?" Prussia smiled. I smiled politely back.

"Toris, go tell the rest of the house to go to bed." Russia then came over to me and started whispering in a lower tone. "Then, make us a drink, okay, lyubov?" Prussia looked at me disbelievingly.

"Lyubov?" Prussia asked with a smirk. "Reason he is calling you that?" I turn for the door, deciding to keep silent.

"Nothing that you need to know." I heard Russia's smile, strange hearing someone smile, and walk towards Prussia before I left. Outside I heard a small _crack _come from the house. I didn't think anything of it, my mind was probably playing tricks on me. I walk to the main house and see Hungary fiddling with her skirt and looking at the guest house from the doorway I had encountered her earlier.

"Is it okay to leave them alone?" Hungary asks. The lines on her face due to her worrying seem to worsen with each moment. I don't answer. Russia is unpredictable to say the least and I don't want to give Hungary a false sense of hope.

"Russia told me to tell everyone to go to sleep." I say, passing her. She nods quickly and rushes off down a hallway.

"Köszönöm." I don't understand what she said. Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine were in one of the living rooms an dI tell them the message as well. I know they will tell the rest of the household what Russia has said. Although they do not know it, I can not talk to Poland, so I can't tell him.

The kitchen held some vodka, so I went there to get the drinks Russia asked for. I am not quick to make the drinks for I do not want to be near Russia at this time. The other nations had by that time retired to their rooms. The house was quiet, which made it more creepy than ever.

"Toris, are you going to bed?" I turn around to find Estonia in the doorway. I smile at him quickly.

"I have to do something for Russia, then I will." His face turns downward before starting to walk off.

"Be careful." I thank him and make sure he is in his room before pulling on my coat and trecking out with the Vodka to the guest house. Onle my footsteps could be heard and it was really creepy. I arrive and I hear a small sound coming from the door. Not one to pry, I try to ignore the specific words.

_Ahhhh!_

My ear connects to the door as fast it can to find out why a scream had comef from the guest house. I couldn't make out all the words, but I got most of them.

"You answer...to me, not...bastard...leader." Russia's voice was even and low, a scary combinations that he should probably stay away from.

"He...great leader!" Prussia shouts.

_Smack!_

I freeze. Prussia coughs. I start to tremble and I try to will myself to stop. It took awhile and the guest house stayed queit for the time being. I open the door when I felt I was ready.

Russia was standing away from Prussia, his blood covered arm was holding a knife.. Prussia was strapped down to a chair, bleeding from his head and chest. The smell of blood would be revolting to anyone not use to it, those doays were long gone to me.

I act like nothing was wrong as I step into the room. I stare at Russia's forehead and walk towards him. The trembling kept trying to resurface, but I irnore them, keeping my eyes void of emotion.

"Drinks, perfect." Russia smiles as he takes the Vodka from my hands. He guestures towards the bedroom. He whispers into my ear. "You'll sleep here, da?"

The trembling couldn't be stopped as I walk to the bedroom door. I try not to look at Prussia, but my curiosity decieves me. I seehis shirt ripped open and his bleeding chest which had cut marks etched into it. His cross had been carved into his skin as well. It was disgusting I quickly look away to find the door to the bedroom.

After closing the door and shakily sitting on the bed, the trembling stopped. This was good, everything was over, until the arguing started to pick back up. Prussia kept repeating the same things:

_"He was a great leader!"_

_ "Your boss is so fucking corrupt!"_

_ "You and your damn Allies are why this world is so fucked up!"_

_ "How can those other Allies even stand you, your boss, or your country?"_

_ "I wished we killed your people, they would choose to die rather than be with you!"_

Then Russia's turn:

"_Why can't you just understand that everyone will be happier with me than with your crude way of government. Now, as soon as you accept that everything shall be fine."_

I close my eyes, knowing Prussia's next words. "_Why would I accept you?"_

A punch.

A few more.

The knife peeling chucks of skin off Prussia.

_Screaming..._

Alot of screaming.

After an hour of listening to the pain I wanted to run out and kill them both. It was too much. I hated it. A few words from Russia seemed a bit too familiar to me and by the fifth slur on the word 'boss' I was sure Russia was drunk.

Another thirty minutes passed and it became apparent that the slander had become less political and more personal. Why Prussia was saying snide remarks to get a rise out of Russia, which only you can do while he is drunk, was beyond me. Though, the your mom and Russia jokes were quiete funny at times, not that I would or could make a sound like a laugh.

"This here, Gilbert, is very hot." Russia says at one point an hour later.

"Bring it on, Ivan!" Then came a shriek and even more screaming whikch was so loud that it drowned out all the other noises in the house.

I was sitting on the bed, knoing I couldn not sleep through all this, even if Russia expected me to. I saw the door handle jiggle and the door open.

Russia walked in and I frreeze, not knowing what kind of mood he was in. He closes the door which couldn't keep Prussia's screams away.

"Is the noise too loud?" Russia asks. When Russia is drunk he still has an awareness of what is going on most of the time. It wasn't like I was going to answer, that could do me more bad than good.

Russia comes over to me and hugs me in this kind of awkward way before sitting on the bed next to me. He was in one of his nicer moods. So suddenly? Maybe he needed to counteract the badness in the other room with goodness in this room. This was the mood that his nicknam efor me 'lyubov' comes from.

He forces me to lie down and I do, only for him to lie down as well. His arms pull me closer to him and I can't be certain, but I think he is smelling my hair.

The trembles do not bother me because I know Russia won't do anything to me this way. He never has before. Yes, this has happened be. Many more times than I would like to admit. No, I do not like it, but rather this than screaming in excrutiating pain like how Prussia was doing.

There was no way that I was going to go to sleep knowing what was happening to another being in the other room. He was still a nation, which meant he had feelings, even if I didn't like him, he shouldn't have to have such pain.

I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone except maybe Russia.

_Comments, Compliments, Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review!_

_Notes: 'Lyubov' means 'love' in Russian and Hungary is speaking Hungarian and saying 'thank you'. Yes, I used the cheap Google Translator._

_Also, at the beginning I am describing World War II and how Lithuanians fought for both sides of the war. The flaming areas on his body are people burning and ultimately dying._

_Also, the reason Poland and Lithuania are at odds is over the Vilnius conflict. Due to thier 'shared pasts' there was a seperation of them by the Soviet Union during the Cold War._

_Look on Wikipedia for 'Lithuania in WWII' and 'Vilnius Conflict'._

_Thank you for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimers: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter Two

I never got any sleep that first night. At three a.m. after the hours of yells, Prussia stopped. I knew he had died and it was creepy to be in the same house with a dead body.

He was up and alive again around six hours later. As nations we can not die permanently unless our government falls, too many of our people die, or we are just forgotten about. The last one is what really does nations in.

Our death is like falling asleep. Some nations have never died before. I have, twice. Once in a war when I was very young and then when…I do not like to think about it.

After that first night I went back to my own bedroom to sleep. I still had to check up and bring food to the abusive Russian and the insane Prussian every meal for a while.

Russia's methods got harsher each day. There was everything from burning wax to corrosive acid to knife work being done to the non-nation. I did not even think acid could do as much as it does.

The acid warps the flesh into unspeakable horrors. Russia had decided to put the acid directly around Prussia's cross so that the flesh indents into a cross liked shape. Luckily, the cross was unaffected by this particular acid.

Blood was everywhere. It could not be helped when this type of thing happens. Estonia and Ukraine accidently saw my hands stained with the stuff. Estonia chose to not acknowledge what he saw. On the other hand, Ukraine's face drained of color and she quietly ran away.

After a week of this torture, I went to give Russia dinner. Usually Latvia would do this, but I did not want him to see Prussia. As I walked into the room, Prussia was folded into himself and Russia was smiling.

I would like to say I had withstood the pain longer than him when I had arrived to this house so many years ago, but I can not. Then again, something happened to me that did not happen to him.

After…t-that…o-one thing…I could not resist any longer. The pain was great and my people were suffering at the time, so my pain was multiplied. Never again do I want such a thing to happen to me.

Russia refused to eat and opted to drink alcohol instead. I did not stick around for that. If I had, then it would have been suicide. Russia is unpredictable, but even more so when he drinks. It was later that night that I had realized that Russia had moved Prussia.

Now, I know this house from top to bottom. Only Estonia knows it almost as well as I do. It had multiple stories and that is not even counting the masses of basement floors. If Prussia was brought to the lower floors of the basement he was safe, except he was brought to the first level of the basement. That floor was common knowledge on what it contained.

The floor consists of four concrete walls, three jail cells used long ago, and various instruments of torture. Russia's favorite was the whip. He used it often.

The Prussian had been dragged by Russia down the stairs. Prussia decided at that time to come alive again and make a lot of noise and struggle like a child in a parent's arms. The effort was futile as the disappeared down the stairs. Hopefully the rest of the household had not heard anything.

I stood in front of the door to the basement. Hungary was soon there beside me. Worry was etched onto her face. I started to walk down the hallway the door was located one. She kept close to me as she followed me.

"I know that room, will Gilbert be okay?" Her 'insolence', as Russia calls it, has taken her to that room of pain. After I do not answer because my answer will be one she does not like, she grabs my shoulder to make me stop and listen to her. She waits for me to answer.

"He is a nation, everything will be fine." The lies slip off my tongue so easily now. It used to be hard to lie. The guilt used to be too much for me. Then, after a while, I got used to it. Hungary chooses to believe me as she walks off.

Night came very fast. This night would always be carved into my memory as one of the worst nights of my life. My room, as do my brothers' rooms next to me, is situated above the basement. We did not even notice that until tonight.

It was one of those nights where Russia, being Russia, said something to upset Latvia. Latvia held back tears until it was time to go to sleep, and then bawled them out in front of Estonia. After a solid hour of comforting and being yelled at by Belarus to shut the noise up, Estonia got me. It took a while, but I was able to put him to sleep.

It was late and I was about to falls asleep until I heard Russia go through the door next to mine which was the stairs to go into the basement. I did not even notice enough to stay awake, so I fell asleep.

_AHHH!_

A screeching sound woke me up in a jolt. I recognized it as Prussia's immediately and I sat up in shock. Nothing was in my line of vision as I took a look around my small room. Then, there was a silence before another scream reverberated throughout the house.

Through my wall came a noise sounding like something falling. I got up from my bed as another scream shot through the air. All of a sudden, my door handle started to jiggle like someone was trying to open the door and did not know how to.

After another scream, the jiggling got more frantic so I opened the door. Latvia stood there. The trembles had taken him and he had a look of pure terror on his face. I took a step out into the hallway to find Estonia's door opening and him coming towards me and Latvia. He grabbed my shoulder and leaned into me.

"Prussia?" He whispered so Latvia could not hear the words full of fright. I nodded as he let go of me and went over to Latvia. The soothing words were not working, evident of by Latvia's eyes pooling over. I crouched down to his level. The screams dying down, I finally noticed.

"It will be fine. They will stop soon. You can barely hear them now." I said as I smile. My smile works miracles. As soon as I smile every one else feels okay, even if I am not. It's a gift, a gift I use on Latvia and Russia a lot.

Latvia calms down. The screams had ceased something I was very grateful for. Usually it should mean Prussia died and now will not have to feel anything. I turn my attention to Estonia who looks shaken. I put my hand on his shoulder in reassurance. That small action physically made him stop being scared; I am not sure about emotionally.

The next morning I was cooking breakfast (I cook all the meals since I seem to be the only one who cooks reasonably good food, or as good as Russian food can get.) and from the corner of my eye each nation came in to sit down in the dining room with grim faces. It was clear that no one, except Russia, had gotten sleep last night.

We all ate in a silence only made possible because Russia had on such a huge smile and he was not saying anything. Latvia looked frightened out of his skin. Estonia looked the same, but with more will to hide his fright. Ukraine and Hungary looked a little disturbed as to what happened as they live upstairs and did not hear it as loud. Belarus and Poland (who was now only a lot to eat and _not _under _any _circumstances talk to me) looked unaffected due to Belarus not caring and Poland living to far away from us to hear anything.

When dinner is finished I hold Belarus back from leaving the dining room. She turns to me with an annoyed glance. Her eyes narrowed.

"I would l-like to have a w-word with you." I say as she looks at me. Now, let's just say I might have harbored _f-feelings _for Belarus for maybe a year about a hundred years ago. It was foolish for me to think I could be with her when she obviously loves Russia.

_Very_ foolish of me.

"Is it about Ivan?"

"Kind of." Her lips curl up and a light goes off in her eyes. It's almost like the same thing as when Poland tells me to 'spill' something like a secret. She waits for me to go on.

"Well…um, I know you heard a little bit of l-last night and, w-w ell, cannot let Raivis be so close to hearing all that. I w-would be very gr-grateful if you w-would switch rooms with him." Her eyes became angered.

"That has nothing to do with Ivan." Belarus' voice is cold and she starts to walk away.

"In exchange, I h-have information about Ivan." I say quickly before she is out of the room. She looks back and runs back towards me in a snap.

"Deal." Her eyes light up again and she waits for my information. I usually would not do this type of thing, but it _is _for Latvia.

"Ivan w-would really appreciate sunflowers, but give him other flowers first so it will be l-like you guessed." I did not want Russia to know I told her something that he had trusted me with.

We agree that the rooms would be switched immediately. Belarus used the least words possible. When she left, I found Hungary peeking from the side.

I wish I could find a way to now get Estonia upstairs or away from his room. There is no way that I could ask Ukraine or Poland or Hungary to switch bedrooms. I will have to figure something out later.

"Elizaveta? I ask after a few minutes when she did not move immediately. She stepped into the kitchen where I was putting dishes away.

"I want to trade rooms with Estonia." Hungary says. I stop what I am doing and look at her. Her face portrays sadness.

"Are you sure?" Hungary _knows _Prussia. Why subjugate herself to this type of torture?

"Yes." Her stubbornness shows through her face. I do not question her choice. I see that arguing with her would not be productive. We discuss moving things immediately.

After I put the final dish away, I took a plate of food down the hall and hesitantly into the basement door. I could not see or hear Russia, so I found it safe to go in.

The smell of blood overwhelmed me for a second before I got used to it. It was not new blood either, it was older; days older. All the way down the stairs were red, black, and brown stains on the walls and floor.

Prussia was on the floor in a cell. The blood obviously was his. He was looking up, so he was alive at the moment. There was so much blood caked onto his body that I could not tell where the scars or the injuries were.

"Prussia?" I call out to him. He does not respond. I walk the few steps to his cell. The torture devises on the wall were covered in old, chipped blood. I kneel down and put the plate sideways into his cell.

He looks up at me with such intensity that it makes me want to look away. That look dissolved when he sees the food. His eyes look at me again as he stands up, staggering the whole time. Then, his legs, which I see have been carved up due to some of the flesh barely hanging on by thin skin strands, give out. Prussia composed himself after the fall and sat with his back to the side of the cell and closed his eyes. His fists shook in anger and frustration.

_BANG!_

The door to the basement clamored open and Russia descended the stairs. I stood up as fast as I could, went around him, and climbed the stairs. Russia opened the cell and pulled Prussia up. I walked into the hallway and closed the door before I could see anything else.

It bothered me how Prussia did not struggle. It was a complete turn around from earlier, but Russia had that affect on people. What really bothered me was seeing Prussia drop the expression in his eyes and made them seem like they belonged to a ghost.

That night the yells start at around one in the morning. I could not go to sleep. I just stayed awake, staring at my ceiling. Time had frozen and it took a long time for the screaming to stop.

After another sleepless night and another morning making breakfast, all the residents in the house were eating breakfast. Hungary looked awful. Her eyes were wide and had bags under them. Estonia and Latvia looked a lot better. I am glad they are not scared anymore. Russia does not voice opposition about the room changes, although I am not sure he knows about it.

Hopefully he does not find out.

_Comments, Compliments, Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review!_

_The title of this story comes from the song "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M. For some reason I think that is a good song describing Lithuania and Russia. Also, I had no idea what to call this story._

_I made it so that Lithuania and Hungary are friends since they were kids. In a recent episode they were shown together as kids, so I made that the premise of their friendship._

_Thank you for reading._


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter Three

It has been about seven months since that first night. It has been a long, sleepless, time and it has put us all in miserable moods. We need to calm down before people start snapping at each other (or Russia, which would be really bad).

Prussia is still in the basement and I am still the only one, other than Russia, to have seen him. I can not tell if he has gotten better or worse. The various stages of death he floats between are now indistinguishable from each other. If he is alive or dead, I can not say.

We have not exchanged any words with each other. By now I would have usually said something, but Prussia's eyes say that he does not want that. He does not want any help. I can not help someone who doesn't wish for it.

After dinner one night, I went downstairs to the basement to give Prussia his food. He snarls in disgust every time I bring him food, but he eats it all, every single time. The winter cold had sneaked into the house and I have been forced to wear multiple layers of clothes, even when I am inside.

Russia is almost never in the room when I enter. He is always where I am later in the day. Those times when I have to sleep in Russia's bed are increasing in number. That's not good. Those times make me feel uncomfortable and I do not wish to be with Russia anymore than I have to.

I jump a little when I notice that Russia is in the room and holding Prussia up by the little shirt he has left. Russia notices me, smiles, and puts Prussia down.

"Toris, leave the food on the floor. Go upstairs and wait for me. We can then talk." Russia locks eyes with me and almost forces me to put the food down and go up the stairs.

I stay next to the stairs and wait for Russia. No one comes by this part of the house at this time of day, making it very the hallway very quiet. It takes a few minutes, but I finally hear the footsteps of Russia ascending the stairs.

"Toris?" Russia questions as he appears in the doorway. I turn to face him. He has that smile that seems to never go away. The trembles threaten to awaken, but I wish for them to go back to sleep.

"Y-Yes?" Russia looks towards the basement door in a shining way, like a father's pride.

"He's ready. Give him laundry to do." Russia says, walking towards me. He then mumbles (or is that singing?) something that I do not think I was supposed to hear. "Scrub clean. Scrub clean to get clean. Clean that soul. Souls must be washed. Wash away the unclean. Unclean things are too terrible to make. Make the unclean things go far, far away."

"A-A-Alright." I pretend to not hear him as he brings himself closer to me so he is only a breath away. His hair hangs down in front of his face, making some of the hair touch my face. The trembles release from me for only a second before I could get them under control.

"Also, he needs to be clean. Take a shower with him in the shower room, okay, lyubov." His cheerfulness makes me have to think twice about what he said.

"What!" Russia's face fell a little. He takes my hand gently. The trembles took over my whole body. "I d-do not t-t-think t-t-t-t-that-"

"You _can _and _will, _lyubov." Russia's voice was strong. I know by Russia's past reasons that he is trying to be nice, but he is very threatening, especially now. I was scared enough into agreeing. His smile returned at full burst.

I do not make any attempt to remove his hand from mine. His mood is teetering on edge, something that happens a lot, due to the alcohol. At these times there are multiple things that can put Russia off the edge and I do not know what they are. It is safer for me to not do anything that Russia does not tell me to.

"Yes." I finally got the trembles to stop. Russia took his left hand, his right was preoccupied with my left, and put it on the back of my head. He gripped my hair until it hurt and forced me to go forward into his chest.

We stand like this for a while in the hallway. I do not do anything since Russia's hands are forcing me into him so I can not move. I wish for this to stop so I can go on with my day. After a minute of listening to Russia's erratic heart beat (to me at least), he puts his face into my hair and then takes a step back. He leaves me as he goes down the hall.

All I can think about is how I am thankful that no one saw us.

The next day after lunch I was about to go downstairs to the basement when Russia stopped me. He told me again to put bed linens in Prussia's cage (he called it Prussia's 'area'), take a shower with Prussia, then tell him how to do laundry properly. Then he leaves.

It registers in my mind that Prussia is not just going to be staying locked in the basement all the time. He may get more privileges, but will not get resident status. He will stay in the basement and if I know Russia, Russia will not let Prussia forget his place.

Prussia is sitting up in his cage, alive, and he looks at the food I am carrying. I search behind the knives on the other side of the room to find the keys to the cages. It took me a few minutes to find them during the first week. I used the keys to open the cage and give Prussia his food. After a second I turned around and started to leave.

"You left the cage open." A voice said. The voice was so raspy and the words were not said in a cocky manner, so I had trouble placing the owner of them. I turned to look at Prussia and smiled.

"I know." He does not move, not even _trying, _to escape. If I did not know about Russia's house, I would have sworn that the man in front of me was not Prussia, but I do know Russia's house and this _is _Prussia.

A few minutes later I come back down the concrete stairs to put the bed linens in the cage. Prussia's face contorts into confusion when he sees me again. After I put the linens down I turn to face him.

"Can you walk?" I ask. He puts his hands on the bars and struggles to get up. Even through I do not like him, I step forward to offer my assistance. Immediately, he snarls at me. I step back and let him help himself. "Follow me."

I go slowly so Prussia can keep up. It is not like Prussia to show pain, so I do not know the amount of pain in which he is in. We go upstairs and down a few hallways (More than necessary so we do not run into anyone; the sight of him covered in dried blood would not be good.) and arrive at the shower room.

The shower room is basically a room full of open shower heads. It also leads outside through a door that does not close correctly, so the cold seeps into the room.

"D-Did Russia tell you?" I ask. Prussia's face gives me an obvious: no. "Russia t-t-told me I h-had t-t-t-to be her as you sh-showered." My mouth will not cooperate with me. This is too awkward of a conversation. I look towards the ground.

"He wasn't joking." I barely hear him. I look away so he can undress. This makes me uncomfortable and I shift a little.

Why is Russia making me do this? If he is concerned that Prussia is going to run away, that is not a problem. Do I have to do this every time he needs a shower?

Prussia keeps his underwear on and I look away as he takes his shower. _Prussia _is comfortable with showing off his body. He makes this even more embarrassing by having no worries with being seen naked. I could not bring myself to say anything, because I was too embarrassed.

I stood under another showerhead (that is not on) and looked away from Prussia. Out of the corner of my eyes I see the water rushing towards the grate. It is not water anymore.

It is blood.

It is disgusting what is mixed with the water, but I have been there. I have been there when pieces of skin comes off and it hurts even when still, five months after the initial hurt.

After I hear the water stop and he gets dressed I show him to the laundry room. He seems to be walking better, but I do not know if it is for show or not.

"I assume you know how to do laundry." I say when we go into the room. He nods. The door opened to reveal Estonia coming to get clothes. He glanced at me and through nothing of it.

The next step he took made him look past me and stare at Prussia. Estonia gaped at Prussia as I noticed Prussia sensing the uncomfortableness in the room. Prussia obviously did not like being uncomfortable.

"What are _you _looking at?" He stays with as much voice as he can to hide the hoarseness slowly coming out. I notice it coming through a little bit, but I knew by Estonia's eyes that he did not. Estonia started to tremble as he picked up some clothes as he looked at Prussia, then he ran out the door.

I leave him in the laundry room as I go to the kitchen, because I was unsure what to do with him. After a few moments Latvia and Estonia walked in, obviously searching for something.

"Toris, is it true Prussia is around?" Latvia asks me. Rumors already? I can not wait until Hungary hears.

"Yes." I respond. They both continue to look at me as I continue to start dinner. "Is there something you want?"

"Well…nothing!" They shift uncomfortably and leave. I resume making dinner. Throughout the next half hour Ukraine, along with Belarus, also came to ask me about Prussia. Also some of the servants (people who are _paid _to work here) in the house come as well. It was when I was done with dinner that Hungary came to talk to me.

"Gilbert!" She calls into the kitchen and runs towards me. "Where is he?"

"He will be here for dinner." I guess he will because Russia never said anything about it. People were starting to sit down at the table. She grudgingly waits at the table.

Russia had gone out to get Prussia and they returned as the last two were to be seated. From the corner of my eyes I saw Poland's eyes pop out at the sight of the German. Hungary was overjoyed. The rest were curious. Prussia looked like none of this was bothering him.

When it was only Prussia, Hungary, and I in the room, Hungary rushed and hugged Prussia as tight as she could. I was putting dishes up and I could see Prussia not knowing how to respond to such a show of affection. I then left them alone.

The next morning I walked to the kitchen to find a note by Russia to take another shower with Prussia. I found Prussia in a half deed state on the ground. When I opened his door he weakly looked at me and tried to get up as fast as he could. When I offered my hand to help him, he swat it away.

He struggled to get to the showers, but by taking the direct route, (everyone was sleeping so no one would see us) it was easier for him.

I turned away from him when he started to take his shower. If Russia was not awake, then I could go get bandages. I took the risk because Prussia should not have undressed wounds (no matter _who _he is and _what_ I think about him) and to remove myself from the uncomfortable situation.

Prussia had dressed by the time I had gotten back (Russia was asleep). I handed him the bandages. He glared at me and put the bandages aside.

"I think you need them." I say while looking at a rather nasty wound on his shoulder. Prussia looks defiant as he hands them to me. He then speaks.

"They are for the weak."

_Comments, Compliments, Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review!_

_When I first wrote the words 'the trembles' thunder sounded outside my house! No joke!_

_This story is slow, but PrussiaxHungary is not the objective here._

_Thank you for reading._


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimers: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter Four

**January 27**

It's been a few days since Prussia has been doing regular chores. Everyday, early in the morning, I have to escort Prussia to the shower room. If I could, I would ask Russia why I have to escort him anywhere. I know it is so that does not escape, but he could easily out run me (I'm not the fastest runner but I am a better fighter)It takes time away from my sleep, but I am sleeping less and less so I do not know if it would have mattered any way.

I have been trying to talk to Prussia, but he does not respond. His eyes are dead and he moves like he is dead. Those few lines he has said, through, are full of life.

"Um…" I start out. "A-Are you ok-kay?" I don't what to say so I say anything I can. This uncomfortable silence is not settling well with me and is making me nervous.

Prussia does not respond.

**January 28**

"A-Are you okay?" I ask.

He does not even look like he even heard me. There are no sounds or movement or anything to indicate that he heard me.

**January 29**

"Are you okay?" I ask without stuttering.

Prussia glares at me hard. He stays silent and I know not to ask that anymore.

**January 30**

What do people talk about when there is nothing else to talk about? The weather. Since it is winter and everything in Russia is cold and snowy, I decide to talk about something other than the cold and snow.

"It's sunny today." I say.

He does not respond.

**February 13**

Prussia and his silence has continued. I through it might have been just me, until I saw Hungary trying to talk to him. She got the cold shoulder as well. The look on her face was devastation and she ran out of the room.

She talked to me later about it. We had a very long conversation (me listening, her talking) about how she is worried about Prussia. It scares her that Prussia has to endure so much pain. The only thing I said was that he would be fine. She does not believe me.

My comments of the weather kept me from complete silence. When Russia's house is quiet, it is even scarier than usual.

**February 20**

Belarus made a comment to Prussia which made him make a comment back which Russia heard. That night it sounded like Prussia had been thrown in the middle of a battlefield. The next morning, when I saw him, I thought that he had been thrown in the middle of multiple battlefields and left for dead. He will never accept my help to get to the showers, but his wounds are preventing him from going a decent pace.

Halfway through the halls, Hungary finds us. Her eyes settle on Prussia. The shock must have stopped her brain from reacting quickly. She stood with her mouth opened slightly. Prussia stood dup as straight as he could so he didn't look as bad.

I stopped and stepped back so that they could deal with what Hungary was seeing. Prussia looked at her while trying to figure out what else he could do to make himself more healthy looking. Then, with only a glare, he looked away and, with his pride, he kept moving forward. Hungary and I stood still. It took a second before Hungary got ready and started to run in his direction. I held out my arm to stop her and she ran straight into it which stopped her. Hungary glared.

"Don't you _dare-"_

"Do what? Stop you?" I say. My voice is hard, it's not like me and it makes Hungary stop struggling against me. The last thing I need is for her to cause a scene and for others to see him. My voice softens. "He will be fine." She looks in my eyes and I see her concern. She quickly leaves for her room.

Halfway through  
>Prussia's shower he talks to me. I had been silent today for I had no idea what he wanted to hear after the Hungary event.<p>

"You didn't have to stop her." His voice is not loud like it usually is.

"Of course I did. She would not have been able to handle seeing you like this for very long." Hungary is very strong, just no when it comes to Austria (especially Austria) or Prussia.

"She should not be here." He says in a bitter tone, and then there is silence.

**March 16**

Whenever I talk to Prussia he does not respond. That one day in February turned out to be a fluke that he would say something to me. About a week ago I strayed from my topic of weather and said something about Hungary. His throat made a noise, so I think he was interested.

Hungary _begs _me to make Russia stop the blood and the screaming. I calmly say that I cannot do that. If I could then I would stop him from hitting me as well (which is still an everyday occurrence).

"You have an influence on Russia." She says to me. That statement makes me freeze every time. I have no such influence, just a Russian that creepily likes me.

**March 27**

"Why do you think I care about the weather when I can't go outside?" Prussia asks me angrily.

"I do not think you care." I say. I just wanted him to _say _something so I can tell Hungary he is fine and so there is no silence in the house. "I just wanted to hear you talk."

"Why?" He sounds disgusted with me.

"Just do." I hate silences.

"Really, is that all?"

**March 28**

"How is she?" Prussia asks. It's the first time he has initiated the conversation.

"H-Hungary?" I ask, cursing in my head my stuttering. There's a small clicking noise in the back of his throat.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Frustration.

"She is fine."

"Russia hasn't…" He says slowly. I know exactly what he means.

"Only little shoves." I say. His breath of relief is good to hear. It means he still cares about her.

**March 29**

"Your cooking sucks." Prussia says to me. My first instinct around Prussia since I was a child has been to be sarcastic around him.

"Can _you _cook Russia food?" I ask with real doubt that he could.

"Yes, of course."

"Can you cook Russia food _well." _

"The awesome me can do anything better than you." I was wondering when he would start with the 'awesome' speeches.

"Is that a challenge?" Prussia laughs loudly.

**March 30**

Since initiating the 'challenge' meant Prussia would have to cook to prove himself, yesterday he cooked dinner. Well, only four of us got sick (luckily I did not) and Russia commented that it tasted really strange. Belarus went up to Prussia and said (threatened) that if Prussia cooked again and made Russia sick, some body parts would not be there when he woke up.

I commented on the food when I saw Prussia. His eyes got that glare from when he was younger. They were alive, not this dead expression that I keep getting.

**June 2****nd**

It's quiet in Russia's house; quiet enough to put us all on edge just a little. The screams in the night by Prussia haven't gotten better. Latvia shakes more than usual now. I can hear it down the hall. Ukraine comes out of her room less often, which is usually a bad sign.

The house is warm enough to not chill you to the bone. It was later in the day when I started my way to my next task. The hallways do not have windows and proper lighting has not been installed, making them dark and uninviting.

That is when I see Poland coming out of the room just in front of me. It's unexpected and he stops when he sees me. We stand in silence as we look at each other, not sure how to approach the other.

There's a scar over his left eye and his hair is duller but other than that he seems okay. It's then that I start to worry if he has been okay and how well he is dealing with being here and living with Russia. He is (_is he?_) my best friend, so I do care about him and I do catch myself thinking about him a lot.

Then, I remember _what he did _and _how he acted _and it makes me turn away. I start walking towards a door on my right (another hallway, I think). He has not moved from what I hear behind me. Does he even want to make this right? Poland has to be the one to apologize, not me, to make this right.

Hungary has been more persistent about Prussia. She has resorted to making him talk to her through constant talking to him and being where he is at all times.

Prussia and I have been talking. They are not long conversations by any means, but I guess it is more civilized than when I used to want to punch him every time I saw him.

_Comments, Compliments, Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review._

_Short…I know, but this chapter is necessary even if it doesn't seem like it._

_Lithuania is still referring to the Vilnius conflict when talking to Poland._

_To a.n, my anonymous reviewer, thank you for all your reviews! They are very encouraging and helpful. I hope I answered some of your questions in this chapter._

_Thank you for reading._


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia . _

_Warning: I switched the Point of View to Prussia._

Chapter Five

So I've been in this house for quite a while now and I pretty much know this place sucks. _Everyone _knows this place sucks except Ivan because he is practically the devil. The devil probably thinks hell is better than heaven. I'll have to ask him when I go there.

Now, what makes this place suck is mainly due to a few problems and I mean these are the major problems like when France is caught naked in the closet with the new boss's wife by the boss.

The first and most important problem is Ivan and his crack pot way of doing things. His vodka problem is also not helping in any way. He's insane and someone needs to stop him from being a country. One day, when I rule again and get my land back, he is going to not even exist anymore I will beat him so bad.

The second thing is that I hate cages and basements. They make me feel like some sort of criminal and I am not a criminal in my eyes. Ivan even said I wasn't a criminal, so let me out of the fucking cage. Anyways, who puts people in cages? Insane Russians, that's who.

The third thing is Elizaveta. She worries too much and it makes it harder to keep stuff from her. If she would leave me alone she wouldn't have to see me bloodied and beaten and then she wouldn't have to get upset. Problem solved.

The last thing is Ludwig. I think about him too much. He's my brother and now we are a country together and I miss him (I wonder if this is how the Italys feel when they are separated.). My mind is on him a lot and I want to be able to just see him.

Ivan is making me set the table in his formal dining room with some really good china, piece by piece, from a cabinet in the room. The room is elaborate and is way too red for my liking. It's dark, just like his soul.

I begin setting this stupid table and all I can think about at this moment is about Ivan. Damn him for bringing me here and having me to be his slave/servant.

I can hear voices coming from the hallway. They're loud and shouting at each other. After setting another place and hearing the voices rise and rise. That's when I notice that there is only one voice and it clearly belongs to Ivan.

From the level of his voice, I say that he is right outside the door. Why should I care where Ivan is? I grab the plate and glasses for the next table.

_Crash!_

Something made of glass shatters against the wall outside the hallway. I was near the head of the table, where the door is near, so I the crash surprised me. I still have to fill this part of the table with dishes still.

There was a wooden closet for hanging coats next to the door and I went towards it, just noticing it. What I really wanted to do was listen to what Ivan was saying and if he comes in I can just say that I was admiring his dusty closet.

It was a huge closet and I opened it out of curiosity. Ivan spoke fast and slurred his Russian, so I could barely even catch that he was actually saying words instead of gibberish. There was nothing in the closet and that was boring it its own sense. There was another crash.

The doorknob started to jiggle, wishing to get open. It took Ivan a moment, probably drunk, to actually figure out which way to turn it. There was banging on the door and it burst open and Ivan barged in.

I was in the closet….not _hiding _or anything. _That _would be for unawesome people, which I was not.

I'm not scared, either. I could take on Ivan if it weren't for me being a little weak from some of the treatments that he has so kindly given me. He told me they were presents, sometimes. That makes me laugh.

There was enough room for me to sit down so I did. Light from a small opening near the screws of the door shone through the darkness of the closet. The small space allowed for me to see Ivan coming into the room.

I swear the room got colder or this closet is just naturally freezing. Its winter, so it was already cold and I hate the cold, not winter cold, Russian cold. The air in Russia is different and it's not a good different.

Ivan is pulling something with him but I can't make it out what it is. The door to the dining room is violently slammed shut. He turns to the object, no _person_, puts his hands on their shoulders and pushes them against the end of the table facing him. I notice it was Lithuania.

My opinion on Lithuania has changed in the past few years. He is easy to talk to and I am bored so we talk sometimes. I used to hate him and I wanted to punch him in the face. Well, now he's kind of okay, just someone for me to talk to.

I can't keep up with the words Ivan says, but most of them are curses. Lithuania doesn't have an expression on his face, but he is visibly shaking. He can't keep his eyes from showing glimpses of fear. You would think he would have this down, ya know? He's been here for, what, ever? _I _have this down to the last expression.

Ivan's voice gradually changes to more soft tones. He bends over and whispers into Lithuania's ear, which sends Lithuania into a fit of shaking. Ivan's hands lift and push him onto the table in one swift motion. In one move, Ivan has forced Lithuania onto the table and pinned him to his chest.

His arms wrapped around Lithuania in an almost tender manner. Well, as tender as Ivan can be. Ivan puts his head into Lithuania's hair. He closes his eyes and stays like that for a few moments. The room is too quiet and I feel like I'm going to get discovered here.

Then with as much softness as he can, Ivan kisses Lithuania. It was a short kiss, but it still evokes a feeling of disgust down in the pit of my stomach.

Should I be watching this?

I do know the rumors that the staff circulates. I never really thought of them as true. Well it can't be true! Lithuania would happily give in to Russia if that was the case. He wouldn't be shaking for dear life like he was now.

Ivan kisses him again, rougher this time. Lithuania sees to come awake and suddenly starts shaking his head violently to get Ivan to stop. Ivan didn't like that and quickly brought one of his hands to the back of Lithuania's head to hold him still and another one over his neck. After a very long kiss, that I had to look away for because it made me sick, choking noises made me look back.

Lithuania couldn't breathe due to Ivan choking him. Ivan laughs a little before loosening his grip on his neck. He coughs and tries to catch his breath. Ivan laughs more.

"Did you think I was going to let you die, lyubov?" He asks. The look on Lithuania's face shows a hint of affirmation.

Ivan's face never moved an inch away from Lithuania's face. He put his hands on Lithuania's shoulders and tried to steady the shaking coming from the smaller's body. Lithuania tried to pull away from the grasp.

A few more kisses that lasted forever and Lithuania struggling to get free from the stronger man's grasp. It's sickening and made me want to throw up. I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and twisted it so I would have something to hold on to so I can keep the bile back.

"I don't understand why…" Ivan said stepping away slowly. What is he talking about? Damn, he's insane. He should be institutionalized.

The hand Ivan had around Lithuania's back yanked onto brown hair and made him put his head back. Then, he was violently pushed back onto the table with Ivan clearly getting on top of him. It looked wrong. Lithuania struggled some more and Ivan pinned his arms down and slammed his chest into the table. After Lithuania stopped struggling, Ivan seemed to be on top of him.

"Lyubov? I love you, da? Why are you struggling?" Ivan says. Lithuania shakes more and the hate in his eyes speak of curse words. Is this what he has to live with? I wonder if Ivan really means what he is saying.

The thoughts of what Ivan was saying made me want to throw up again and I looked away. I look away and lean forward so I can't see out the opening. The opening temps me to look, it's like a bad movie that you can't help but watch.

There's the sound of a punch, a shove against a table, and then I start hearing shorter noises coming from Ivan that sound like…_disgusting_! Tell me that what I think is not happening. Other noises start joining Ivan and it temps me just to see what was happening so I wouldn't think what was happening was happening.

I take a peek and quickly shove my head into my knees and close my eyes tight. Ivan's doing _that _and Lithuania's not even making a noise. It's disgusting. Now, I feel like a pervert being here having to listen and watch this.

The noises get louder and I cover my ears not wanting to hear them for the life of me. I didn't know Lithuania was getting this treatment. The treatment I was getting at times was this, but then he would kill me. I don't think he is going to kill Lithuania after making what seems like love in the Russian's mind to him.

I count sheep in my mind to keep my thoughts busy and to pass the time. I don't want to focus what is going on outside the closet.

One sheep…a crash from a plate.

Two sheep, three sheep, four sheep… another plate that I had put out earlier. I had touched that plate and now so has Ivan, it makes me feel dirty.

Seventy-nine sheep, eighty sheep, there are no more noises. I can't bring myself to look but I hear the sounds of clothes shuffling, so I wait a second until I look. Ivan is near the door and Lithuania is sitting up. Ivan looks like he always does and leaves the room.

Lithuania, on the other hand, looks like he has been through hell (which he just did). There was blood everywhere, but mostly on his hips and pants. He gets off the table and finds his shirt which was on the floor.

It took me a second but I decide to stand up and open the closet. I was in there for a long time and it felt good for me to stretch my muscles. Lithuania jumped back into the table in surprise and I look at him. He's shaking much more than Latvia and Estonia on a bad day combined. It didn't take me long to go over to him.

"Wh-Wh-What were you d-d-d-doing in there?" He asks me.

"It doesn't matter."

"D-d-d-did you see?" Lithuania stutters out quickly. There is panic in his eyes and he is putting his hands over his hips so I don't see the worst splotches of blood.

"No, but I heard." I try to not lead on that I am some type of pervert.

"Prussia, please, do not tell anyone." He straightens up so he doesn't look so bad. He's used to this type of thing. So am I.

"I won't." Why would I scare the others with that type of information? I guarantee they have no idea about this and I can guarantee they don't know how I am treated either. " I thought I was the only person who was forced to do this for Ivan."

Lithuania sighs and doesn't even look surprised that I had had this done to me. Did he always know? That makes me angry. Did the others know to? Did Elizaveta know?

"How long have you known?" I ask.

"Your injuries are like mine." Lithuania says as he puts his shirt on. He turns away from me and heads towards the door. He smiles at me and leaves the room.

I feel like everything is alright.

_Comments,Compiments,Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review!_

_Russia is insane and does rape Lithuania in this. I would like to point out that Prussia uses contractions because he more informal than Lithuania who doesn't use them. That's why Lithuania's points of view read to be a little stiff._

_Thank you for reading._


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter Six

There has been talk recently of China coming to Russia's house to see Russia. Usually they meet somewhere closer to the Chinese border, but now China is to come here instead. Russia has been on edge lately ever since hearing the news. I am not sure it is because China coming to his house and him wanting the visit to go well or something else. He is drinking more, so I am assuming that it is the something else. Though, that does not make since, China and Russia _are_ friends… at least that is what I think they are.

No matter what the case may be, Russia wants the house to be cleaner than this house has ever been before. He is working us harder than usual and looking over our shoulder to make sure that we are doing the job right.

There are small hits on the back of the head of whoever is not doing the work perfectly right. More than likely it is Latvia getting the hits.

Latvia and I were putting dishes away in the kitchen. Latvia dropped drop a plate on the ground and Russia came in from another room and asks who dropped the plate. There was trembling coming from Latvia's side of the room so I said I did. Russia hit me, not as bad as many other times, and went off into the next room. Quietly, Latvia thanked me.

I walk down the hallway to see Hungary standing in front of a door looking like she is waiting for someone.

"Elizaveta?" I ask as I walk up to her. Hungary jumps a little in surprise as she thought she was alone. She lets out a sigh of relief.

"You scared me." She says. "I thought you were Russia for a moment." I notice the flower in her hair is dull and deteriorated.

"No, he is currently with Eduard. What are you doing?" I ask.

"Nothing!" She exclaims so quickly that I know something is up.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Hungary looks at me.

"No, definitely not!"

"Who is it?" I ask, already guessing who she wants to speak to.

"No one!" Hungary goes through the door, which leads to one of the living rooms. I wait for a minute and nothing happens so I leave. The rest of the day carried out without any other delays.

Every day I hope that I do not hear the screams from Prussia in the night. Each day I am disappointed. Sometimes on rare occasions there is nothing and I can get a good night's sleep, but those days are far and few in between.

The screams are not here today due to Russia and his boss having to go meet China and his boss. Tomorrow afternoon is when they are scheduled to come back and in the meantime we are just happy to not have Russia breathing down our backs like he has for the last two weeks.

The next afternoon, after clearing off the table and washing dishes, I hear noises in the hallway. I do not have to leave the room to hear what they are saying, but I do have to hear over the water. The walls in Russia's house are really thin. I think this is due to there being barely any insulation in the walls, which also explains why it is so cold.

"How are you?" It is a women's voice so I assume it is Hungary due to Ukraine being at her house for a few weeks and knowing Belarus would never say that without Russia around.

"Alright." It's a low voice and I almost cannot hear it. "You doin' good?"

"Yes, quite well." She says. Her voice is more cheerful than I have heard it in a long time.

"I'm glad to hear it." I recognized the voice as Prussia's. It is good to hear them talking again. Hungary has been quite worried about Prussia and tells me over and over again how she wishes that he would talk to her.

When I told her to not be so worried and that he is fine, she looks at me like I am crazy. She tells me the screams in the night tell her otherwise. I told her that he says that he is fine. Her response to that was one of agitation and a muttering of 'of course he would be so stubborn to admit anything'.

I listen to them talk for a while. I did not really care about what they were talking about and I did not wish to ease drop, but it is not like I could ignore it. When I am finished with the dishes I go out through the side doors leading into one of the dining rooms so I do not disturb them.

There is a large sound of a pulling up to the front of the house. I walk by one of the back smaller living rooms to find Estonia and Latvia essentially hiding from when Russia and China arrive.

I stay with them for a while as we hear them come inside the house and start talking. We cannot hear them from such a distance nor do we care to.

It is not a long enough time when I have to go into the kitchen to start making dinner. China walks in unexpectantly and looks around before looking at me. He looks confused on where he is.

"Um…where is the living room?" He asks in Russian.

"Which one?" I answer him as I turn to him. He does not look any different from the last time I had seen him almost twenty years ago.

"I forget that there are so many." He mumbles, and then starts to speak louder. "The main one?" He guesses. I tell him how to get there and he thanks me in Chinese before turning around and leaving. I notice that he takes a left instead of the right like I told him to.

Dinner is a strained event in which all of us in Russia's house try to stay quiet and eat as fast as possible and Russia ignores the awkwardness in the room. China shifts uncomfortable through some of it but does not make any real indications that he feels too uncomfortable.

Prussia leaves first, prompting the rest of us to leave with Russia and China going back to the main living room. It isn't long until I can hear shouts from the room and it is frightening that they are getting in such a big fight.

After a few minutes I walked out into the hallways and to the right to find Hungary, Poland, Prussia, and Estonia outside of where the door to the main living room is.

I walked up to them and Hungary made a motion that told me to be silent as they were making sure Russia could not hear us in his current angry state.

"This is not my fault, Yao." Russia's voice was loud, but not shouting.

"Of course it is!" China's voice was a little louder than Russia's.

"It is yours, not mine."

"So _you_ not helping in India is my fault?" There is a hint of boiled up anger spilling over in China's voice.

"You're the one who got into the war!" Russia countered.

"You're the one who was supposed to help us." His words are cold. There is not anything said for the next few minutes.

"We never said that we would help you." Russia said.

"Then I should go." We rushed to a door on the right of the hallway and hid as China left the living room and made his way to the front door. Russia followed him. We closely followed behind him. "We could have worked together." China said as he was at the front door.

"No, we think too differently." Russia said.

China leaves and Russia goes towards the kitchen and gets the most accessible bottle of alcohol and goes towards his room. He slams the front door. The four of us look at each other and scatter to make sure Russia does not accuse us of eavesdropping.

I had gone closer to one of the other living rooms to pretend I was there. Then I realized that there were footsteps behind me. I quickly stop and turn around and Poland almost runs into me. We stare at each other awkwardly for a few moments.

"Hey." He says, fidgeting with his hands.

"Hey." I say back.

"How are you?" He asks. He is shy and I have not seen him so uncomfortable around me for years.

"Same as you." I'm uncomfortable to and well...look where we are at. We are not even sovereign anymore.

"This is ridiculous." Poland says, almost laughing. "I should just be able to just like talk to you."

"You are talking to me." I say. This time he does laugh, never one to take anything serious for too long.

"I guess I am." There's another silence.

"How are you?" I try to be polite.

"Better." He walks away, not wanting to deal with the awkwardness any longer. All I can think is that at least we had a normal conversation without yelling. When is the last time we did that?

I had barely got into my room that night when the screams started. Russia is angry, evidence of his behavior earlier, and also drunk, evidence of the bottles of empty alcohol in the kitchen. There is no telling what state of mind he is in.

Just seeing the sight of Prussia the next morning was sickening. It had been one of the worst times I had seen him. It took a lot for him just to get up the stairs to the hallway. I offer him my hand to help, but he does not take it. He never does.

There is a line of where Russia took a knife to Prussia's chest in the shape of a crescent moon. The hole is deep and I can almost guarantee that it will leave a pretty nasty scar.

The water runs and I wait standing with my eyes looking the other way from him. It has been a few years, but I still feel uncomfortable with this whole 'shower' thing. I still wish to get out of it, but that would probably mean that someone else would have to take my place. There is not anyone I would want to trade places with me. I do not think they could handle the initial way Prussia looks every morning.

"You didn't have to cover for Latvia, you know." He says. His voice is fine compared to the rest of his torn up body.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"When he dropped a plate a few days ago." I remember and sigh.

"I do not want my brothers getting hurt." I say. Estonia and Latvia have barely gotten hurt, compared to me, and I know they do not know what Russia is capable of. They are just living in fear, which in a way is getting hurt.

"Maybe you should let them get hurt a little." He says.

"So I do not get hurt as much? I would not do that." That is not my way at all.

"I would." That is a lie.

"So you are not protecting Elizaveta?" I ask, knowing full well that he is.

"No." He laughs. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, when you first came here you fought back, and then one day it was the exact opposite. You do not get that broken and submissive in one day." I say. Hungary used to get some bad treatment from Russia, but it has greatly calm down, even when she is exhibiting behavior that Russia does not like.

Prussia turns off the water and gets dressed as I wait for a response. I turn around once he is finished and stares at me.

"Well maybe I do."

_Comments, Compliments, Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review!_

_So my excuse on why this chapter is kind of late: I went on a cruise, then got caught up in making up work for school, and then had major writer's block for this chapter. This is a filler chapter and I didn't have quite a grasp what I wanted to be done in it._

_The whole thing with China is to show the Sino-Soviet split and emphasize where Russia gets his anger. When China talks about India it is the Sino-Indian war where Russia was supposed to help China. Also the whole 'we think too differently' is the contrasting views on Communism between China and Russia. To learn more go search 'Sino-Soviet split' on Wikipedia._

_Thank you for reading._


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter 7

A lot has changed recently. There is a tension in the air that none of us could identify at first. It started out small and gradually began this huge monster that lived in the house. It ruled our lives for about the last three years. We only started to choke on it during the last few months.

Russia grew angrier by the day and many of us were doing things that Russia would never have allowed before. Prussia said it was a good sign. He was right. It was a sign of freedom.

The beginning of change happened a few months ago.

Poland and I began to talk more and eventually became friends again, but not like we were at all. There were still a lot of things that we refused to talk about. Although we avoided those subjects, we were still doing well and for that, I was thankful. When he started to get sick we did not understand what was going on with him.

The sickness lasted for months until one day it just cleared up like nothing had happened in the first place. He said he felt different and being in Russia's house felt weird to him. We did not know then that his government was removing communistic rule at the time.

A month past when Poland decided that he needed to see his people. When I asked if there was something wrong, he said that there was nothing wrong, there was something right. When I asked what that something right was, he did not answer. He could not tell me if he wanted to, he did not know.

He needed to leave and told me so a few times before picking a day to actually leave. Poland said that there was something in his country, excitement, which he felt like he was missing. I asked him if it was worth the risk of Russia. He responded with a smile.

That night he snuck out of a window and went to go to his country. He told me that he wanted me to go with him. I said that I could not leave until my country was able. He understood.

Russia barely noticed in the morning that someone was missing. When he did find out, he drank himself until he was drunk, then slept, and then drank again. It was an endless cycle but it soon turned into another cycle a few months later.

Hungary is gone. She ran off to her country, or more likely Austria, in the middle of the night. Her people have found a way into Austria and she wanted to leave Russia as soon as possible to be with them, but I also knew she missed Austria very much and wanted to see him.

The only thing that she needed to do was get help out of the house. She came to me with great enthusiasm, a result from how her people were feeling. I just happened to know how she could get out with a few connections I have had for quite a while.

When she was at the back door waiting for the car to take her away during the middle of the night, she jumped when she saw me. She thought she had heard Russia, but that was impossible because Prussia's screams were coming from the basement at the moment (the perfect time for Hungary to leave).

Quietly she told me that she had told Prussia, Ukraine (who she had started to get along with during her time at the house), and some of the other non-country servant. The car pulled up.

She asked if I wanted to escape as well. I gave her my reason to stay and she looked at me with great sadness in her eyes and I knew that she truly wanted me to go with her.

Then she hugged me and thanked me and left in a black car.

I hope she gets to Hungary alright. I hope she sees Austria. What I hope the most for is that Russia does not go after her.

The next day when Russia asked where Hungary was, I told him I did not know. Everyone else (some lying like me, some not at all) replied in the same way. The expression on his face turned from his normal unnerving smile to his cheeks being pulled too tight and his smile smiling a little too big. He slowly got up and left the dining room. There were the clinking sounds of glass from the kitchen.

Later in the day, after silence and tension coming from Russia's side of the house all day, Latvia was given the job to give Russia his food.

Latvia was shaking when he came out and the first thing I asked was how many bottles were empty. He told me he could not count fast enough. That was when we started hearing the crashes coming from Russia's room. Russia's anger was enough to lose a lot of furniture and more many more noises that shook up the house.

The tension monster grew even more after that. The count of lost furniture keeps going up day by day. It is not hard to see why. .. Russia is losing us.

It is almost inevitable now that someone else would leave soon as well.

There has been a definite change in the way Prussia is acting. There is always jittering movements coming from him, like he is being held back from a fight and wants in. More than that is the fact that I can see sparks of enthusiasm on his face. It reminds me of how Hungary and Poland acted.

Then, yesterday happened. Russia got a telephone call saying that the desire to let East Germany open its borders was getting quite serious. It angered Russia so much that he broke the telephone by slamming it against the wall.

As I walked down the steps to get Prussia for his shower I wondered if I was going to help him run away from Russia's house as well. It occurred to me that not too long ago that I could of cared less of what Prussia was doing. Now, it was different, but a good different.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs I decided to say that I was going to help him. Russia had been too preoccupied the night before with the telephone call and having to go into the city that Prussia was not hurt last night. I told Prussia to get his stuff, all five things. He did not understand as we walked to the shower room.

"What was that all about?" Prussia asked me when I closed the door. I turned on a shower head so that the sleeping Russian would not know what was happening.

"Your people are protesting." I say.

"What does that have to do with me getting my stuff?" He was confused. I point towards the door that leads to the way out.

"You can leave through that door over there. You can be with your people." I say. He just stares at me like he is listening to a mad man.

"You'll just let me go." Prussia said, disbelievingly. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." I say. "I am not the one holding you here." Prussia looks at the door like it is his one way ticket out of hell into heaven, and truly, it is. Anywhere out of this house is called heaven to us.

"Come with me." He says quietly as he looks towards the door. "You can be free,too."

"No, I cannot." Prussia looks at me like I am crazy to stay. I quietly laugh because just a second ago he made that look when I suggested leaving.

"Why not! You can leave Russia!" Prussia exclaims.

"My people are not ready yet. I also cannot just leave my brothers." I cannot believe that I just turned down freedom for the third time. Prussia closes his eyes in understandment.

"Your people can be ready soon." He tries to persuade me.

"No, I should be here when they do." Prussia nodded.

Prussia walks towards me, which makes me back up against the wall. Water sprays my clothes and the crisp fall air makes me shiver. Prussia was already wet, already not a good thing if he is going to go outside to escape like I told him.

"You need to go _now_ if you are going to go." I say. I do not know why he is so close to me, but he is and I do not question it. He has always never been one to do the expected. There is a pause as he takes my hand. My first instinct is to pull back and punch him for getting too close (my really old war instincts coming out), but I only do the first one. It does not take long for me to start pulling my hand back.

As my hand goes back, Prussia increases his movements and grabs my hand. My hand hit the wall that is right behind me and he does not let go. I look at my hand for a moment, just trying to figure out what he is trying to do.

Pulling my hand back was not the smartest thing, because when I moved my hand, I pulled him closer to me. Now he was closer than ever and it made me feel very uncomfortable.

"Are you sure," he starts out, making my eyes shift towards his face, "you want me to go?" I breathe and take a second to think, not knowing how to answer.

"I want you to be with your people." I say slowly. He laughs and I do not understand why.

"Thank you." Prussia moved his hand towards my face and let go of my hand, something I was beginning to turn away from. He then moved forward and kissed me. I do not know how long it took my mind to register that he is _kissing_ me, but I do know what once it did register that I did kiss back.

I don't know why I kissed back. It felt right, like it was natural of me to kiss Prussia.

There was _nothing_ natural about it.

Prussia pulled away and we looked at each other. There was happiness in his eyes and I had no idea whether it was from the kiss or from his people. All I know was that I probably had the same look in mine.

"Sorry." He says, his eyes meaning it. His eyes were sad.

There was a jolt of pain in my stomach and when I looked down, there was Prussia's left hand, wielding a knife that was all the way into my stomach. I did not know what to do or say.

The pain shook through my body and Prussia stepped back, saying sorry again. He starts running towards the door. The pain starts to make me tremble.

I watch him go. He does not look back as he enters the door into the fall air and to his freedom.

I can feel the blood soaking my clothes and the unbearable pain that comes from my stomach. Slowly I look down to see how bad it is and before I can look all the way down, my legs start to give out from lack of blood flow.

The floor is wet and water pours on me as I lay on the floor. My blood is being washed away from the hot water. The hot water hits my wound and it stings and I try to move myself away from the water, but my body would not respond properly due to the lack of blood.

My head felt nauseous and it was not long until I blacked out.

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_The shower scene is what I based this whole story on and I hope I did it justice._

_Thank you for Reading._


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I do own Hetalia. Don't you know that by now? I sure do._

Chapter 8

My eyes opened slowly, blinking to adjust to the lights in the room. I was lying on some sort of strange bed, but the room was definitely Russian in design. I looked down to see my whole area from my chest to my waist being wrapped in bloody bandages. It was then that the pain struck me again.

I gently touched my wound and immediately notice that it was still open and bleeding quite a lot. The knife had apparently opened a lot of older wounds from my sides and they were bleeding as well.

I reach for the bandages on the table next to my bed. I unwrap the dirty bandages and dress my wounds properly like I learned to all those years ago when I had gone to wars with primitive medical tools.

I wonder who and when found me. I wonder if I had died, I cannot tell anymore when I die and only pass out due to loss of blood. Most of all I wonder if Prussia made it back to his country.

When I am done I try to get up. My lack of blood makes me dizzy, but I try to go through it. It hurts my body to go out the door and down the hall. I make myself stand up straight and head towards my room on the other side of the house.

It is dark in the house, for it is nighttime, and I do not see anyone on the way to my room. Once I get there I change my bandages with clean bandages in my room. I laugh at how I keep them in my room all the time. Then, I change into some clothes that do not have blood on them and look in a mirror and correct anything else that may make me look not presentable.

After a few minutes of just sitting on my bed so I can stop my head from spinning, Estonia bursts into my room. He looks like he has been running and his face is red and filled with worry. He looks at me and is relieved when he finds me. Is it him that found me?

"I was going to check on you." Estonia said after a sigh of relief. "You were gone from the room and I didn't know what happened to you."

"Did you find me?" I ask. Estonia shook his head.

"I just took you to the room; you were dead, so it was easy. Russia found you." He said. "Why were you in the shower room that early in the morning? No… More importantly, how'd you get _stabbed? " _

"Have you seen Prussia today?" If he has, then Prussia did not escape. He looks at me like I was just completely avoiding the subject on how I died.

"No, now that you mention it, I haven't. But, have you heard about the wall…" Estonia looks at me as I smile and it takes about a second before everything connects in his head. "You helped Prussia… _You helped Prussia. _Feliks? Elizaveta? Did you help them to?" I smile bigger and Estonia actually gets kind of angry. I have never seen him angry.

"Why haven't you helped me or Latvia? Your own _brothers_!" I sighed, knowing this is why I had not told them earlier how I helped the others.

"Your people are not ready and mine are not either. If they were, I would help you or Latvia." I say calmly. Estonia stares at me and looks away, understanding why I have done the things that I had done.

"If my people do, you will help me?" Estonia asks.

"Of course."

Latvia was more excited that I was alive then me getting him to his country. He said that whoever stabbed me was an awful person. I did not tell him who it was; I think it would upset him.

Russia, when he saw me and we were alone, hugged me and said that he would track Prussia down for leaving him and hurting me. I just said that I was fine and hoped that Russia did not do that to me.

Four months of Russian anger and four months of wishing I could leave, I heard good news. Through an informant that I know, the same one that took Hungary to the Soviet border, I have been informed that my people do not want communist rule. I have not gotten the full story or even a fifth, but I do hope this is true.

I was asked if I should leave and this time I accepted.

I walked down the hallway to Russia's office and tried to formulate what I would say to him. Unlike everyone else who snuck out, I was just going to tell Russia and see how that would work. It was night and everyone else was asleep.

Sometimes I can still feel the pain from the stabbing if my clothes rub against the scar. There could have been two reasons why he would stab me. Only two reasons and one of them was probably not it.

The first one was that Prussia was tricking me by kissing me. He hated me and used me to get to Russia and to his freedom. The second was that Prussia stabbed me so that it did not look like I just let Prussia go. The advantage being that I would not get in trouble with Russia. I big part of me wished it was option two, but it was probably option one.

I would be lying if I said that I did not think about him. I thought about him all time. Only natural, since I used to see him every day. At least I do not have to wake up early every morning. Not that I sleep anymore. To use to the screams in the night…

I stepped into Russia's office and saw him staring at me like he has been doing for days now. I think he can now smell when we are leaving him. If this is the case than I might actually be in some trouble.

All I can think is if there is any way I can sneak out and not confront him like I was planning to do. Why did I think confronting him was a good idea? He turns towards me and I knew that there was no way out.

"Lyubov? What are you doing here?" Russia asks me, noticing me standing in front of him. He is not staring at me with malice, unlike the others who have become independent. He can feel when they want to leave him, but not me.

"I have to talk to you." I say, the trembles already dare me to come out. They are not going to win today. I have come here to do something and I will do it with pride and with no trembles.

"What about?" Russia asks me. His face is full of confusion and I wonder if he really does not know about my people. He has to, does he not?

"I am leaving." There is force in my words and I cannot believe that I found the courage in me to bring it out. Russia's smiling face contorts into one full of hate and hurt.

"Would you really do that, Lyubov?" He asks, standing up and walking around his desk. His voice sounds hurt and I cannot tell if he is feigning it. "Would you really leave me?"

"Yes." I answer. When he walks up to me, I do not move. It is like I am standing my ground, but as time goes by, I feel like a fool. His arm moves fast and quickly pulls me towards him. I cannot stop the trembles from coming out and I curse myself to make them stop so I do not appear weak. "Stop!" I try to push him away. "I will not do this!"

There is struggling, but I am not strong enough to push him off of me. When my back makes contact with the fall I know that I have lost this battle, but my people can still win the war.

He has me and I cannot make him let go. I try to think of other things to make it so I do not think of the pain, but all I can think about is the last time Russia did this. Seeing Prussia come out of that closet scared me to death. I had kept it a secret for so long.

"Just like the first time." He laughs and I almost go still when I realize what he is talking about. I struggled so much the first time he did this. I had just lost the war and Russia was taking me to his troops after he 'won' me. Before we arrived he set me down after carrying me.

I did not understand what he was going to do to me those first few minutes. All I knew was that the snow was cold and him taking off my clothes made me cold. I was so naïve…

When he is finished, he towards me and waits for me to leave. "Go back to your room, Lyubov. It is safer for you here."

I look down to see my sides bleeding from where his nails dug into my flesh. My thighs have also gained the same treatment. I can also feel my back getting a few more scars, or opening old ones, I cannot tell. I reach for something in my pocket. My back pocket, somewhere Russia would not ever notice. I do something Prussia, either for the right or wrong reasons, taught me to do.

I kiss and stab him with the knife from my pocket. The look on Russia's face tells me that I learned pretty well. So I twist the knife, because I feel like it and I think he deserves it. He falls to his knees in seconds and I notice that I stabbed him in the heart. Pretty good aim if I so say so.

"Lyubov." He strains to say before he starts choking on blood.

"Never call me that again." More force in my words than ever. I leave the room.

I do not say goodbye or even tell my brothers that I am leaving. I did not know how to tell them, truthfully. They would hopefully understand or better yet, follow me so that I can see them soon. I just hope Russia's anger is not projected onto them.

One of my contacts from the outside gives me a ride from the house to the train station. There are no words to describe leaving Russia's house. It is the most amazing experience. I was so thankful that I would finally be leaving and hopefully for good this time.

It takes me a second to wonder if this is how the others felt. If it is, then I am thankful that I helped them. I am glad to get stabbed if this is what Prussia experienced.

I find a train to what is to be my city of Vilnius. My city, no one else's. I have to switch trains a few times and on the final train, after crossing the border the kind woman next to me says that I am bleeding. I look down, not even remembering what had happened to me.

She looks at me and says that I need to go to the hospital. I say that I do not. My eyes start closing in pain by the end of the long train ride. She says she will take me to the hospital. I say that I do not need to go. I do need to go because I do not make the train ride back.

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_I'm sorry this took so long to get out… College applications take too much time out of my day. I hope to get the next one out quicker._

_Thank you for reading._


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia._

Chapter Nine

I wake up in a room with everything being white. I quickly realize it is a hospital when I notice that I am hooked up to some machines and one of them is showing my pulse. I try to get up but there was a pain in my stomach and in my sides that prevented me from getting up.

The pain was not unbearable for me to sit up. That caught a nurse's attention outside and she came in to see me.

"How are you?" She asks me cheerfully. It takes me a second to figure out she is speaking Lithuanian and not Russia. It has been a long time since I have heard my own language. "You were in a pretty bad state when you were brought in."

"What was wrong?" My throat hurts and the words come out a little hoarse. There was water on the bedside table which I took a sip from.

"There was a lot of blood. Most of the wounds were just reopened from what looks like previous wounds. You may also have had a concussion and nerve damage….might, I don't really know." Nerve damage? I'll ask about that later.

"Where am I?" I ask.

"A hospital." She answers, checking my pulse and unveiling wounds on my sides and apparently my shoulders and back. There is no pain in my shoulders or my back.

"In what city?" I cannot help but feel like Russia has pulled me back and is trying to trick me with the nurse.

"Vilnius." She laughs. "You're lucky. The doctor claimed you were dead, but then the government showed up and stepped in and told him to wait. Guess the doctor was wrong."

"The government?" Which government?

"Yeah, the new government." She responds nonchalantly, like governments change every day. She starts to change some of my bandages.

"How long have I been asleep?" I ask. If I died and if they put me to sleep, it could have been weeks. I wince when she _accidently_ pushes too hard into my wound.

"About a week." Quick government change. Thankfully, through some of my contacts, a few of the government officials know who and what I am. She tries to wrap my sides.

"Who are you?" She laughs and it reminds me of Poland. I wonder if she is a nurse, because a five year old could wrap a bandage better, and with less pain, than her.

"I'm Danutė . You?"

"Toris." I respond. I thought I could try to sit up again, but there was too much pain.

"Even if you get up, you're not going anywhere." She says. "You'll have to recover first and that should take you about a month. You get to see me everyday 'til you get out to!" I was not sure how  
>I felt about that…<p>

Thankfully, it only took two weeks for me to recover and never have to see the nurse again. Something that I was thankful for since I soon figured out that she was the worst nurse in the hospital. My new government seemed good enough to me when I met them and I started to work closely with them and I even got an office. There was a lot to do and it kept me quite busy.

Although, the time that consumed was nowhere near how much my phone took my time. Almost every nation called me to congratulate me for leaving Russia. Surprisingly, Iceland was the first. He was awkward and the conversation formal, but it was a nice gesture. Not so surprisingly, Poland was next and was so excited that my new boss in the hallway could hear him through the phone. I apologized to my new boss later, but did not know how to apologize for Poland when Poland burst into my office and made a ruckus.

Hungary was soon after. She thanked me a lot for helping her, and then went into a three hour discussion about her time since she has last seen me. A lot of it was talking about her reunion with Austria which took an hour in itself. It was obvious that she was a lot happier from the sound of her voice and the way she did not have to step on eggshells when she talked to me.

After about a week of being in my office, I was out talking to my new boss when I was told by the secretary in my hall that I had someone on my phone.

"There is a guy on the phone for you." I started to walk into my office to take the call, when I heard her talking to the other secretary next to her. "I think I'm in love with him."

"What did he say?" The other girl asked, giggling.

"He was just so charming and talking me up like I knew him forever. He knew just the things to say." Do I know someone like that?

"Hello?" I talked into the phone after going into my office.

"Toris! Yo, dude, what's up?" America's voice was loud and I forgot how loud his voice could be. I thought back to my secretary and wondered if she really liked someone who was this loud.

"Hello, Alfred." Two minutes after being in America's house and calling him Mr. America, he told me to never say that again and call him by his actual name.

"I just found out that I can call you again. Glad you moved out of Russia's. How'd you get out?" I forgot how fast the American talks as well.

"I got independence."

"Why did you have to get independence from another country? Didn't you do that in the twenties?" I sigh. Where did he think I went? "Anyways. I'm glad you can talk to me again. Russia was an asshole for letting you not talk to me. Dude, you should totally come visit me soon!" He says excitedly. "I miss the company. And the cooking!"

"I would like that." After a minute I hung up the phone. When I was leaving for my house later in the evening the secretary asked if I could set up a date with the guy on the phone. I laughed softly, saying that it may be a little further distance than she might like.

Months past and I thought a lot about my brothers when I was at my house alone. The thoughts of them made me stop whatever I was doing at the time and worry. I was there source of protection and now that will happen to them? Then, I would remind myself that I worry too much and return to what I was doing, but doing the activity slower, still having worrying thoughts about them.

"There is someone in your office. Says he knows you." The blonde secretary across the hall from my office tells me when I walk by her. She was going to go back to work when the secretary next to her tapped her on the shoulder.

"Have you ever seen such white hair?" The second secretary started to giggle with the first. I thought about who had white hair. It could be… no, it would not be him. I walk into my office.

There stands Prussia, shifting his eyes towards me. There is surprise in his eyes, like he did not expect me to walk through my own doors. I close my door, but nothing past that. I was not ready for this.

I was hoping that he would kind of just disappear from my life. It could have happened too, if he had not of come. I have been worrying more about him than my brothers these past few months, something I would never want to admit to myself.

I barely look at Prussia, not wanting this to become more awkward. Should I be mad or thankful? I do not know what to do. We both stand in silence.

It only takes a second for me to quickly glance at him. No blood, just Prussia standing in front of my desk. He is more shaven and has had a haircut, but he is exactly the same since I have last seen him.

Except… is his usual confidence replaced by awkwardness in his eyes? No, I have imagined it. It could not be.

"Congratulations on independence." Prussia says as he looks towards me. I look towards him and smile, just like I do in all uncomfortable times I find myself in.

"Thank you." I see him visable feel more comfortable. "It is late, but congratulations on yours as well."

"Thank you." He laughs. "It does feel like a long time, although it has not been as long as I feel like it has." Now, there is cheerfulness in his eyes and they are coming towards me.

"It has almost been a year. That is a long time to most people." The trembles, something that I have been free of for a very long time, start to threaten to resurface and I wish them to go away. To prevent them I start tapping my find against my thigh to give myself something steady to think about.

"Not to us, usually." Prussia still is coming closer to me and I am glad my office is not made of windows to show the whole world how nervous I am.

"It has felt like a long time." He smiles as he stops right in front of me. There is no doubt he has regained his usually confidence back.

"Does that mean you can't feel it anymore?" He takes his right hand and touches where he stabbed me. I try not to wince in pain, for that was one of the scars Russia had reopened and it hurt quite a lot when touched.

"Not at all." I lie. Prussia does not of seem to notice. His eyes shift towards where he was touching.

"I didn't want to stab you, you know." Really? Good…I am glad. I finally have an answer. He starts to twist his finger around which makes me want to back away so he is not touching my wound anymore.

"Why did you do it then?" Prussia looks me in the eye.

"Didn't want Russia to know you helped me. Did I kill you?" Good! That is what I thought.

"Yes, but thank you." Only time I have thanked someone for killing me.

"Sorry about that…I…um…." Prussia looks genuinely sorry and fumbles around for what to say next. I guess he did not expect me to actually accept his apology for anything. It was actually humanistic, coming from Prussia.

Then he does something rash, because he does not know what to say next. He kisses me, which does not surprise me as much as I thought it would. I kiss him back, knowing that I wanted to and it seemed right, kind of.

Prussia pulls back and looks at me like he did not know that I would kiss back. He stands there awkwardly for a moment before quickly getting out of my office and down the hallway. I knew something in me wanted him to stay, but he was nowhere in sight when I went out into the streets to find him.'

The kiss made me genuinely smile, not the smile I give when I am uncomfortable. It made me happy, but I do not know if Prussia felt the same way.

_Comments, Compliments, Concerns?_

_Put them in a Review!_

_I'm sorry for such erratic updates. Also, I would like to explain some historical things. Iceland was the first to recognize Lithuania independence with Russia, so he is the first to call. I don't really know when Poland and Hungary did. Also, America didn't know about the independence due to America recognizing 'Continuity of the Baltic States' (look it up on Wikipedia). Also, Dunate is a popular Lithuanian name._

_I was originally going to write more, but I think this is the last chapter._

_Thank you all who have been supportive!_

_Thank you for Reading._


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